Laureano de Torres y Ayala
Laureano Jose de Torres y Ayala a Duadros Castellanos (5 February 1645-1 September 1722) was the colonial Governor of Florida from 1693 to 1699 (succeeding Diego de Quiroga y Losada and preceding Jose de Zuniga) and Cuba under the Kingdom of Spain from 1707 to 1711 (succeeding Pedro Alvarez de Villarin and preceding Vicente de Raja). Biography Laureano de Torres y Ayala born in the major southern Spanish city of Seville in 1645, the son of a noble Spanish family, and grew up in the capital of Spain, Madrid. Torres became a member of the Templar Order, a powerful order of men who sought to achieve peace through brainwashing. He met with Thom Kavanagh on many occasions and became the Grand Master of the Caribbean Rite of the Templar Order. In 1673 he tried to take Kavanagh from his employer Peter Beckford because Kavanagh's blood was rumored to be able to activate a special glass container that could see into his life, and his blood was also able to open the doors to "The Observatory" in Long Bay, Jamaica. In June 1693 he took part in an expedition to Florida (present-day southern United States) and on 21 September 1693 he succeeded Diego de Quiroga y Losada as governor. He returned to Spain in 1699 and Jose de Zuniga replaced him as Governor of Florida, and from 1704 to 1707 Torres took part in the War of the Spanish Succession in Europe. In 1707, King Felipe V of Spain made him the Governor-General of Cuba and he moved into a royal palace in the city of Havana. He was arrested on charges of corruption in 1711 and Vicente de Raja succeeded him as governor. However, in 1713 he regained the post of Governor and he was given the job to find the Observatory. In May 1715, Torres met with Assassin Order defector Duncan Walpole (whose identity was taken by the pirate Edward Kenway shortly after Kenway killed him at Cape Bonavista), French smuggler Julien du Casse, and British pirate-hunter Woodes Rogers at the Governor's Palace in Havana, where Walpole was to turn in a map of Assassins' Dens across the Caribbean. Using this map, Torres was able to attack the many dens. Torres soon found out Kenway's true identity after Kenway tried to free "the Sage" Bartholomew Roberts, the "reincarnation" of Thom Kavanagh, from prison. Torres had him arrested and sent with the treasure fleet back to Spain, but the treasure fleet ran into a hurricane and Kenway captured a brig that he called "Jackdaw". Unaware of this, Torres dealt with more severe problems back home. He was the foremost leader of the Anglo-Spanish War of 1715-1722, during which Spanish Navy and Great Britain's Royal Navy ships and marines fought across the Caribbean, mainly in the Bahamas, off the southern coast of Jamaica, and in the islands of the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. Torres' ships were attacked not only by British ships, but also by pirates such as Edward "Blackbeard" Teach, Benjamin Hornigold, Edward Kenway, James Kidd, Jack Rackham, and Charles Vane. Torres made sure that any executed pirates were gibbeted and their cages hung at the harbor and fort in Havana. Later in 1715, Julien du Casse perished after falling from his man-of-war "Arca del Maestro" on Great Inagua, murdered by Edward Kenway. Torres was unaware of his death, and in January 1717 he headed to the gold-laden fort of Punta Guarico. Torres was the commadant of the fort until Edward Kenway and "Jackdaw" arrived at the fort and destroyed it with cannon fire. Torres was captured in the war room and was told by Kenway that he would be used as bait to find The Sgae. Soon, he met his contact Laurens Prins in hopes of finding the location of Bartholomew Roberts, who was in Prins' service. However, he was tailed at the meeting by Kenway, and he sent guards to attack Kenway as he and Prins fled. Expedition to Long Bay In September 1722, Torres found out about the location of the Observatory and landed a Spanish army at the beach at Long Bay, Jamaica. His fleet off the coast of Long Bay was destroyed by Edward Kenway's ship in a one-on-four battle, and his soldiers were opposed by "the Guardians", a tribe of local Indians devoted to preventing anyone from reaching the Observatory. Torres' Spanish troops were equipped with muskets, and they massacred the blowgun-wielding Guardians, before making it to the Observatory itself. When they entered the Observatory, a series of security measures caused many of his men to be killed or wounded. He accessed the Observatory's main room, but Kenway leapt from above and attempted to kill him. However, Torres parried and prevented Kenway from striking him. Kenway then fought him in a sword fight, and impaled the 77-year-old former governor with his sword. Torres died, saying that Kenway suited his convictions. Category:Spanish politicians Category:Politicians Category:Spanish Category:Cubans Category:Templars Category:Killed Category:1645 births Category:1722 deaths Category:Catholics Category:Templar grand masters Category:Spanish nobles